1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of putting practice devices in general and in particular to an angularly adjustable putting practice apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,284; 5,863,256; 5,855,522; 5,445,381; and, 5,390,925, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse putting practice devices.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical putting practice apparatus that is incrementally angularly adjustable to provide uphill, downhill and side hill dispositions of the golf hole relative to the golfer.
As most golfers are all too well aware, hardly any conventional golf course greens are perfectly flat which renders most putting practice devices relatively useless due to their inability to simulate actual putting conditions.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among golfers for a new and improved angularly adjustable putting practice apparatus that can at least approximate conditions that the golfer would encounter on a real golf course, and the provision of such an apparatus is the stated objective of the present invention.
Briefly stated, the putting practice apparatus that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a framework unit, a putting surface unit and an adjustment unit that can incrementally adjust the angular orientation of the framework unit relative to a horizontal support surface.
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the framework unit includes an elongated rectangular framework member which surrounds and supports a raised putting surface platform member having a cup aperture and a branched ball return pipe member which guides a golf ball entering the cup aperture of the platform member or landing on a front floor panel segment of the framework member to a rear floor panel segment of the framework member.
In addition, the adjustment unit includes four screw jack members disposed adjacent to the four corners of the framework member wherein, the screw jack members are independently actuatable to give the platform member a variable angular orientation ranging between an uphill lie, a downhill lie, a right-handed or left-handed side hill lie so that the golfer can practice putts corresponding to actual putting conditions on a golf course.